Week 6 cyoa: hei, jiuqing, vin, and kashuu

[saturations]

spoiler warnings: ff14 heavensward and some light endwalker elements
content warnings: violence, death, war, terrorism (short), brief mentions/references for eyegore, brief mention/reference for decapitation, depression, suicidal ideation (nihilist flavor), suicide, dragons and monsters eating people

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❆ COERTHAS WESTERN HIGHLANDS (KASHUU AND VIN)

[disestablishment]

GUIDE US, O' MIGHTY FURY.
ONLY JUSTICE, ONLY VENGEANCE.

[ First... You hear a voice. To many of you, it's familiar, but you can't seem to put your finger on it. It narrates a line with a voice devoid of emotion, disconnected.

"For a millennia, they have been at war..."

When you and another open your eyes, these greet you: the scent of gunpowder and the wild shrieks that knife through the cold, white pall. Snow, mist, a tundra that obscures beyond. The screams are very, what some of you may call, human... Raw and filled with terror and rage. As you turn here and there, you will see flames coming from the sky, torching the camp that welcomes your wake. There are burning tents, cannons overturned, and a large frozen crystal at the center. The few living people here, ironclad in chainmail, have long and pointed ears. There are some that are not, more similar to "human" in every right. Still, the matter is that there are few alive. Wielding their weapons, survivors try to defend their fewer injured.

Lower on the soft blanket of snow, you see a myriad of corpses, some blackened to the brink of ashes, others more fortunate with only half of their body scorched. Those not burned by the seven hells have their bodies torn and soaked in blood, painting the beautiful white expanse with a deep crimson.

And yet something else catches you eye in the chaos. Most noticeable are the insignia on their shields, scattered or held, and the emblem embroidered on the singed banner overhead.



For some of you who may have received memories from Estinien or Aymeric, of their homeland in the cold, these insignias may be familiar. Not that you and another are afforded extra time to digest this all. The camp is being attacked, if we want to remember the fire raining down? Above in the heavens, you will see a horde of dragons. Around on ground-floor, you will see dragons. Dragons, dragons, dragons. The dragons make quick work of one, two...

You must do something, whether to save who's left or to save yourselves. ]

[allomantic]

[she'd wondered, once others started being pulled into these trips more than once, whether the same would happen to her. that wondering doesn't prepare her for the chaos she opens her eyes to, though, for the screaming, the scent of smoke and blood in the air.

it does seem familiar to her based on things she's seen before, but that doesn't mean she knows how to react. there's a half second of shock and terror before she looks to see who she's with, quietly relieved that it's kashuu, before she looks around to try and figure out what to do as she unsheathes the sword she's somehow been gifted. she isn't skilled with one, really, but she's hurrying towards the group of survivors regardless.]

We have to help them—!

[slashay]

[Likewise, he sure had wondered the same thing and it sure hadn't prepared him for this! But on the plus side, war is familiar to him. Maybe not war with wholeass dragons, but humans and their weapons can be just as ferocious - and he does fight against monstrous creatures every time he sorties now, every time he goes back to protect the past.

In a way, it's kind of comfortable waking up to this sort of chaos. These are the fights he's used to - not the horrible, methodic murder, corruption and execution of their numbers.]

—On it!!

[HEAD EMPTY TANK SQUAD ROLL OUT TO PROTECT WHAT THEY KNOW ARE PROBABLY HALLUCINATORY PEOPLE. It's fine. Kashuu's also drawing his sword which is not at all like his usual one, but that's also fine, he'll adjust. At least it's not a gun...

He's immediately sprinting in her direction with his shield held aloft, aiming to give her cover if need-be while they dash for the survivors.]

❆ C̸̡̥͑O̴͖̙̓̄͝Ę̴̼̱̈́̓̆R̸̨͚̃̓͜T̶̰̥̀H̴̨̡̘́͑͒Ã̸̝̦S̷̳̭͐̋

[disestablishment]

YET EVER DO OUR ACHING SOULS POINT HEAVENSWARD.
EVER RINGS OUT OUR SONG.

[ First... You hear a voice. To many of you, it's familiar, but you can't seem to put your finger on it. It narrates a line with a voice devoid of emotion, disconnected.

"Even when one sought peace, they would stir conflict... Man's wont is ever violence."

When you and another wake, you find yourself in the middle of a tundra. A flurry of snow opposes you, pushing you back, but it is tolerable—for those who are used to the cold. As you look around, you find nothing... It is simply a blurry white expanse with monsters, slopes, and cliffs within your immediate peripheral, but much must be journeyed. However, when you look to your right, you see a frosted surface unlike the snow that slowly embraces your ankles.

It's a river, frozen.

In the distance, you hear the sound of footsteps. What shall be done? ]

[countermeasures]

[unfortunately, jiuqing is not used to the cold.

she finds herself shivering, her hands tight around a flower-topped staff. for a moment, she wonders if perhaps she'd sleepwalked to the mountains - but she doesn't see the cabins, or the ice rinks. just the snowbanks, and slopes, and cliffs, and monsters - she shies away from those - and the river.

this is unfamiliar.

that's not terribly surprising, she supposes, since others have begun to repeat their trips. what surprises her most is that she doesn't immediately see anyone else near her. last time, there had been others.

this time...

she shivers, and starts to walk toward the river, but she hears footsteps that aren't her own and turns toward them, instead.]

...who's there?

[disestablishment]

[ damb... lonely. The footsteps come from behind her and as she speaks, she gets a reply. ]

Who goes there?!

[ They approach closer and she will see there are maybe three to four knights. ]

🐉 DRAVANIAN FORELANDS (our separated JIUQING)

[disestablishment]

CHILDREN OF THE LAND, ANSWER THIS.
TELL ME WHY BREAK TRUST, WHY TURN THE PAST TO DUST.

[ Su Jiuqing has chosen to go to Dravania to talk to the dragons with Ysayle! With Ysayle's followers, they travel through Coerthas until they reach the gates. It's... Stark how different Dravania is to Coerthas. It's plentiful of mossy green, rather humid as well because it seems to be near a volcano? The fauna here are colorful, too, instead of the pale swatches of grey to steel blue of Coerthas. Anyway, there are many trees hovering above them, seemingly ancient in age, and they continue on until they reach three towers that spiral to the heavens.

"This is Anyx Trine," Ysayle says.

Already, Jiuqing will see dragons flying about in the skies near this tower, then also perched on peaks and stone sills. This is where Ysayle raises a hand, dismissing her followers to wait outside. This pilgrimage is one she wants to take on her own, for their cause, and Jiuqing is allowed because she has her own purpose. Into the tower, they're met by...

Little dragonets. They swarm the two of them, flying circles around.

"Children of man? Here? Why?" ]

[countermeasures]

[wow! time to take a trip to dravania. jiuqing, before they set out, really hopes that by azure dragoon ysayle doesn't mean estinien, because she remembers that azure dragoon (retired) on his profile. maybe it's his successor? but this is something from before the memory she saw of aymeric's, so maybe it's not.

maybe they'll get lucky, because she doesn't have the faintest clue how to defend herself from estinien's big fuckoff lance with her squishy healer arms.

anyway.

HELP THESE DRAGONETS ARE SO CUTE

jiuqing is weak to small, cute creatures, but with a roll of 12 she is able to keep herself focused on the task at hand... even if she's not able to suppress a small, delighted smile when she sees them. they're so, so cute...]

We've both come for our own reasons... Lady Ysayle has a matter of importance to discuss, but I was hoping I might be able to ask for your assistance in finding my way home. [she bows politely to the dragons] ...if that would be alright.

[disestablishment]

[ To be even more flavor, Jiuqing will notice that these dragons do not speak directly. Their words are different—dragonic langauge—but they translate to common words for her in her mind. Such is dragon powers. "Oh? You're lost? How did you get here if you're lost?" ] ... If we could speak to an elder dragon, we would be ever grateful. [ To Jiuqing, quickly and quietly: ] These are dragonets... Younglings, but they can be well beyond two hundreds years old. [ okay, back to business. ] It is as Jiuqing says. I seek to speak with Hraesvelgr. [ the dragonets are like :hei: cat. Uh... THE AUDACITY IN THIS BITCH. "Go up the steps." ]

⛪ THE HOLY SEE OF ISHGARD (KASHUU AND VIN)

[disestablishment]

SEAS OF BLOOD ARE A SONG
AND DEATH AN AFTERTHOUGHT.

[ Kashuu and Vin decided to go to Ishgard! As they walk through, they're met with the black chocobo stables nearby with people tending to them and steps ahead. What they will see is the city, though not in full, for this is only one layer of Ishgard, Foundation. It is lightly slowly, not as cold, either. Still, it's a bit chilly, but people walk around in their fur coats and long dresses with leisure. It's almost hard to notice that this is a time of war, but the knights that stand ever still with their shields propped on the ground tell otherwise.

Vin, with her map, will know where to go! But it depends on where they want to go first. Based on what I remember them talking about, these are the locations of their interest:

The Congregation of Our Knights Most Heavenly
The Jewel Crozier (markets)
Aetheryte

Markets and Aetheryte can be expedited, just roll for me to see if they get Everything they would want in markets. ]

[allomantic]

[though it doesn't have the ash or the darkened sky she's used to - in a way, this place seems familiar. it's nice. she's not going far from kashuu as they both enter, though.

for expediting purposes she's nyooming towards a nice pair of daggers in the market!! i don't know how she's going to pay for these but it's fine.

eli 🔪 vin Roll: [20] Result: 20]

[slashay]

[Meanwhile this place is entirely unfamiliar to Kashuu and he hates it here. Now that he's not in immediate danger of being roasted alive, he's just thinking about how cold it is...

In the markets, he'll nyoom for a jacket that is both warm-looking and cute to wear over his adventuring clothes. He'll also see if there are any more familiar-looking swords to be found here, but if he doesn't find any, he'll stick with his magic glowy one. He does not even remember that he had a shield that they ditched out on the battlefield. oh yeah 15 roll help]

⛪ I§┣┨̈GΔ®D

[disestablishment]

G̷͔͎͊̀U̸͈͘I̴̱̒D̶͚̣̈́E̶̪͊ ̶̫̀U̸̧͐S̶̳̊ ̷͕̘̐T̶͎̃͋Ò̷̫͍̐ ̸̙̿V̷̲̐͜I̷̜̮̐C̴̘̮͝T̶͕̑̃Ö̷̹́͠R̸͖̮̈̉Ỹ̵͔̌!̵̝̍  S̵̩͗̈À̷̗͕̓H̵̥͂͊L̴͈͋ ̵͙̾̌D̴̝͓̓̓J̵̼̀͌͜A̵͇͚̾̏H̷͓͂S̶̘͒͊ ̸̱̜͝Å̷̖̓F̸͚͓͊͗A̵͈̽Ḧ̵͉ ̸̰̈́̾A̸̹͕͋N̷̤̤͒!̷̢̎͛
V̴̙͓̔E̵̬̿̂͘Ň̷̬͍̻͐̔G̴̗̣̥̱̤̊͐̂͗̽E̷̡͠A̶̺͇̭͒̀̐N̶̞̥͕͆̽C̶̞̉͒͊Ẽ̷̻̪̖̮̄̄ ̴̲̤̺̤͐̒͑̋̌͜W̶̛͖̘̻͇͖̏̂̀Î̴̺̣͗L̷̪̯͈͑̄̄͘͝L̶̜̗̠̫̰͛̀ ̶̧̡̣̏̈͜͝͠B̷̫̓̈́E̶̻̎ ̸̺̺̝̗͕́͂̈̎O̸̧̳͈͖̜̓̆̀̚Ủ̴̦͉̩̯͌͗R̶͇̹̬̩͋S̷̲͐̈́̐.̴̥͇͉̊̂

[ When anyone approaches the city-state, they are met with billows of smoke... And when they peer in or enter through any of the points, there are dragons digging their claws into people. They snatch them up with their talons, taking them for rides before dropping them. They would breathe flames into this once haven. However, there are knights who defend their people as best as they can with bow, shield, sword, and lance.

The plaza where everyday people take a stroll is no more. Only corpses upon corpses, dragon and man, can be found. There is also something odd about the sight... At the moment, it's hard to discern. It must be the missing great wyrm? No. When you look back up to the sky, you see Hraesvelgr battle his own brother. He made a promise to Jiuqing and her friend, after all.

... There is only ruin and chaos here. Where do you even begin? ]

[countermeasures]

[god. okay.

where to even start here?

first things first - jiuqing should probably get off vidofnir's back. she's horrified as they arrive at the city, but puts a hand on the dragon's scaly hide and gives a little pat.]

...thank you. For your help. I can take it from here.

[and attempts to dismount, but with a roll of 2 -




she falls instead and gets ash and rubble in her injuries. ow.]

[disestablishment]

[ ... Carefully, Vidofnir bites the back of her robes to pull her onto her feet. ] My sire told us we, his brood, may make our own decisions. I, too, will fight with thou.

[ But what this means is that she is in the background, protecting people with her scales. Vidofnir will swat some dragons away when needs and give people shelter. However, she's only one dragon... Jiuqing has to do what she can, too. The shrieks of man and dragon cut through the air. Not once or twice. It's insistent, a chorus with the dragons' song. This is the song of war, a song of violence, and yet it's so sad.

With each scream, Jiuqing knows someone dies. Man, woman, child, dragon, Hyur, Elezen—they are nothing to death. ]

[allomantic]

[eli 🔪 vin Roll: [4] Result: 4 Reason: real vax
eli 🔪 vin Roll: [17] Result: 17 Reason: real aymeric

personally love how we keep rolling to weekend at vax's when it will accomplish absolutely nothing of worth in the end. she's distracted by the chaos all around her, probably, so she doesn't drag him along very well at all this time.

that being said, since she had a decent aymeric roll, she probably has more luck spotting him! and if that's the case, she'll head his way. come on sword boy]

[slashay]

[He's just following along after Vin with her 17 roll and a 12 roll on his end for accuracy and ability to follow while drunk in all this chaos. Goddamn.

He also rolls a 2 so he's not going to be much help with this body retrieval... In fact, if Vin ever accidentally lets Vax go, he is absolutely grabbing the wrong fckin body to tug along with them. But if she doesn't he'll just do an extremely bad job at helping her before giving up. God bless.]

🕊️ Ę̸͈͚̃̀N̸̩̂̋̀D̷̙́́

[disestablishment]

[ This illusion ends and you find yourself in a black void, now with your mind back in place. This is an abyss of nothing but yourself, and you start to wonder if you're truly here... You don't feel any pain despite how you retain all of your wounds and injuries, but what is there to validate your existence? Is this death? But then you hear the same familiar voice from the beginning.

"Why must you struggle? Have you not suffered enough...?"

Even if you can't see with your lack of eyes, your mind's eye follows the voice and perceives the black bird. It is the same black bird that accompanied you on your journey. The voice has a hint of remorse, edging apologetic. ]

For you, I would have granted the gentlest end... If only you asked.

[ You all may respond to this comment individually. ]

[allomantic]

[she's very quiet, for a while. is this the end? people have come back from these adventures even after sustaining fatal blows, but this seems calm, quiet. there's no pain. couldn't she stay here, just for a while?

have you not suffered enough?

but, even with the suffering, she...]

...Can you take me back? Back to them?

[disestablishment]

Why?

[ The black bird comes with grey wisps that circle its little feathery body which increase, running rampant before it unveils not a monster, but an exact copy of Vin herself. The difference is this one is grey, completely monochrome.

It was always her voice. ]

We will only be hurt.

[countermeasures]

I don't want a gentle end at someone else's hands.

[jiuqing's voice is shaking as she stares down at her hands. they're bloodied - both with her own injuries and with the countless lives she'd taken in ishgard, under the influence of... whatever that was, whatever had twisted her into that worst version of herself.]

Whether I suffer or not, how I live, how I die... that's up to me and no one else. Send me back. I don't want your mercy.

[disestablishment]

[ The bird is quiet... But then grey wisps appear on it. They circle its little feathery body which increase, running rampant before it unveils not a monster, but an exact copy of Jiuqing herself. The difference is this one is grey, completely monochrome.

It was always her voice. ]

It would be a mercy for us.

[slashay]

[This is familiar to him.

He's died once before, after all - a death for a sword, a spirit, a deity, and not a human. There was no soft, golden light to embrace him after the flames of dismantlement faded. There was only a vast expanse of nothing. Silence. Loneliness. His fractured conscience, which could only recall glimmers of light and regret.

He finds that he doesn't terribly mind returning to this darkness that he's known so well and for so very, very long. After the agonies of the last few hours, it feels like a reprieve, somehow. ...But at the same time, as he perceives this bird, he can't help but feel a flare of anger.

"What does grief look like for you?"

"Like a dream you can't wake up from. ...No. I think it just looks like living."

He speaks with the mouth he doesn't have.]

Being alive is just like that. You struggle and you suffer. It's not in any sword's fate to meet a gentle end.

[He accepts this.]

[disestablishment]

[ The bird is quiet... But then grey wisps appear on it. They circle its little feathery body which increase, running rampant before it unveils not a monster, but an exact copy of Kashuu himself. The difference is this one is grey, completely monochrome.

It was always his voice. ]

It can end.

🛍️ REWARDS & AFTEREFFECTS

[disestablishment]

[ After their tests of wills, an archway rises from where the black bird—your despair—once was. Each archway shines your respective color, sparkling marvelously in the darkness. You have walked this end, the war between dragon and man. Your head may not have been held high the whole journey, but you held onto hope and that hope guides you back.

Well come and well met, my brave little spark.
    How long you've wandered, burned bright as a star...

A song reaches your ears as you approach the passage, bittersweet but warm.

Vin, Su Jiuqing, and Kashuu will find one of these gumballs in their pocket upon return:

✨ JIUQING : White Iridescent Gumball - User envelops an area with a veil of succor (it is like a small and pretty dome). It is an area of effect that heals all targets in the bubble over time. Minor heal potency.

✨ VIN: Red-Glowing Black Gumball - User BECOMES a dragon (fire-aligned, but black flames) for 10 minutes, but needs to roll for control. The lower the number, the less control they have over destructive and violent dragon tendencies.

✨ KASHUU : Red Pom Gumball - When user focuses on a target, the target turns into a moogle (their clothes are also miniaturized to fit) for one day. While a moogle, the target is extremely annoying and will bother people to do whatever ridiculous tasks/requests that come to their mind. This can be cured by someone finishing one (1) of their tasks/requests.

✨ KASHUU : Starry Sky Gumball - Summons a tarot card! The balance card, when put into play like YGO (you must do the motion), increases the effect of your next gumball.

They will know what their gumball does! When reporting the gumball use, please link this comment to your report for mod reference.

As an aftereffect,

✨ Kashuu and Vin will suffer some memory loss! You may choose an event in this cyoa for them to forget temporarily only for the trauma to jumpscare them later or they can choose to forget your choice of cr. Whenever someone tries to walk them through this memloss or ask them about it, they will feel deep loneliness and/or hopelessness until they regain it. Play this out how you wish!

✨ For Su Jiuqing, her dragon trial memories will remain locked when she returns to the Prism, but it and all of the emotional damage will slowly come back to her. Play this out however you wish! It can be piece by piece, or batch by batch, and they can surface at any moment.

Mods gave a general timeline that maybe the latest to remember everything being next Monday-Tuesday.

You are all deposited in looks at smudged writing on hand the volcano. ]